The ‘Invisible force’ scaling down the five-year premiership tenure of all Pakistani prime ministers to an inclusive end right – from 1947 when Liaquat Ali Khan becomes the inaugural state leader of the South Asian country – is very much in place 75-years on. This time around Imran Ahmed Khan happens to be the latest hit. Interestingly, a whole lot of dramatic scenes characterised his ousting from the corridor of power.
Flying the colours of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan laudably in Cricketing, he became a top political figure not only in Islamabad but also in the Muslim world. Today, 69-year-old Imran Khan joins the league of preceding Premiers who for one reason or the other never made it to the very end of their political dispensation. One thing stands out, his successful removal by a no-confidence vote passed by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – a coalition of opposition parties, is the first of its kind in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Apparently, Khan appears down but not out and the double-quick emergence of former opposition leader – Shehbaz Sharif, as the new Prime Minister is a curtain-raiser for more discrepancies within the political ranks of Islamabad. The economic and political crisis rocking the Islamic Republic of over 220 million people is far from over. With an all-powerful military institution in place, the future of a parliamentary democratic system in Pakistan hangs in the balance as it heads towards another circle of political instability.
The politics of Islamabad is highly sensitive and the ‘forces’ that be, have adopted a series of measures in plotting against all 22 past prime ministers including Khan, in what now appears to be an unbreakable jinx. Measures ranging from dismissal to dreadful ploys such as forced resignation, military coup and assassination have all featured in sustaining the inglorious record, which invariably points to the alternating nature of government and high level of political discordance in Pakistan.
Winning the July 2018 National Assembly election and occupying the ruling seat, Imran led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is now on the other side of the political spectrum with a frantic effort on course to stifle the incumbent government led by 70-year old Shehbaz Sharif – former Chief Minister of Punjab Province and younger brother to Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, a three-time former Pakistani state leader. Will Khan be able to stage a comeback and get back to the dizzy heights?
Imran Khan is known to be a man of multiple political tactics who never capitulates easily. A crowd-pulling personality, he has attracted the unwavering support of millions of Pakistani youth, finger-pointing Washington as the arrowhead of the ‘international conspiracy’ that connived with internal forces to oust his government. Consequently, Khan banks on his anti-Washington sentiment to get himself back on track in a game-changing strategy.
Series of protests to correct the ‘wrong’ will hit up the polity in a fight to finish. While Khan has lost the battle in the parliament, he still enjoys considerable public support in the field. If snap elections are called the people ultimately decide who sits on the Prime ministerial throne and not the parliament. Rallying behind Khan his supporters came out en masse at Peshawar on Wednesday to protest against his ouster another is set to take the stage at Karachi. On his official Twitter handle, Imran Khan tweeted:
What went wrong in the first place?
In the build up to the action-packed scenes within and outside the National Assembly of Pakistan, Imran Khan Popularity within his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party frayed at the edges as party allies quit his coalition government to join the opposition. Basically, opposition parties fast-tracked the no-confidence motion in April, 2022 on the backdrop that Khan had failed to revive the declining economy and deliver on most of his campaign promises while pursuing a counter-productive foreign policy. In some quarters it is of high speculation that he had lost touch with the Military.
Khan himself is convinced that a ‘foreign conspiracy’ spearheaded by the United States led to his political downfall as he stands in sharp opposition to the US-led intervention in Afghanistan. He also believes his decision not to toe the western line on the Ukrainian conflict in reprimanding Moscow and his state visit to the Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, the very day Moscow launched a multi-pronged attack on Kyiv, informed the ‘regime-change’ against his government by Western powers. Whatever the case may be, one thing is clear: Khan is out.
What becomes of Islamabad?
The emergence of Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) as Prime Minister may have ended the impasse, but on the horizon are looming troubles. Sharif led the charge of the 174-legislative vote in favour of the resolution that booted out erstwhile Pakistani premier, Imran Khan from office and he has a personality beclouded by corruption allegations.
Ranking by popularity, a section of the Pakistani populace and power circle is critical of his antecedent. His blueprint to a unified Pakistan could possibly prove herculean becoming a stepping stone to further animosity.
“If we are to rescue the sinking ship there is no other solution but to seek unity, unity and unity. We need dialogue not deadlock to strengthen democracy and revive the economy,” Sharif said during his inaugural address.
Currently, with the look of things, the honeymoon of the new government is time-bound as the political scene nears a volatile situation. The economic crisis rocking the nuclear-armed state of Pakistan can only receive a significant turnaround if the political environment is largely peaceful and stable. More so, the newly elected government is not a reflection of the general will of the Pakistani people which could act as a cog in the wheels of the Sharif-led Pakistan government.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the former ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is sure is heat up the polity and cause a series of setbacks for the Sharif-led Pakistani government throughout the intervening months. The mass resignation of PTI members from the National Assembly in protest against what they term ‘unjustified election process’, might just be the beginning of other unpleasant scenes to unfold and without opposition, the new government will invariably punch below its weight. Shandana Gulzar, PTI leader voiced their unanimous stance.
“We have decided we cannot sit in the corrupt government, with corrupt leaders who have murder cases, money laundering, extortion. They recently killed a Journalist Nazim Jkokio. We cannot sit with such people.”
On its official Twitter account in support of the upcoming rally in Karachi, the PTI party tweeted:
Interestingly, the forces that joined hands to elect Shehbaz Sharif might be his own undoing as the parliamentary democratic system practiced in Islamabad is highly unpredictable. Parties can switch alliances in a flash. With the militarisation of politics as a recurring feature in Pakistan, the ‘ultimate kingmaker’ still watches from the sidelines and might just swing into action if things spiral out of control.
From the foregoing, finding a common ground among Pakistan politicians looks inauspicious at the moment. The ‘force’ which dictates power-play in the South Asian country is most likely to keep up playing the cards to its advantage as Islamabad’s political future largely remains uncertain.